Elon Musk deleted his Instagram account and hasn’t posted “in a while” because he was becoming too vain.
“There was a time when I was posting on Instagram, but I found myself doing selfies and I’m, like, ‘What the hell is wrong with me?'” the tech mogul revealed on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast Tuesday before he and host Joe Rogan burst into laughter.
“‘Why am I posing for selfies to get likes?'” he added.
Musk, 52, and Rogan, 56, then delve into the societal pressures that come from participating on a social media platform like Instagram that centers around “pretty pictures.”
“I’ve caught grown men using filters on their pictures,” the former “Fear Factor” host said. “It’s very strange.”
Musk added, “I am concerned that Instagram actually leads to more unhappiness, not less, in the sense that it just looks like everyone is just having a great time and is way better looking than they really are.”
The SpaceX founder concluded, “I think it can make you kind of depressed” and questioned whether Instagram is a “net happiness generator” or not, noting, “I’m not sure it is.”
Musk deleted his Instagram account in 2018 after racking up more than 8 million followers.
He tweeted at the time, “Instagram is so thirsty, yet gives you Death by Water,” seemingly referring to a poem featured in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land.”
Musk bought another social media platform Twitter, now known as X, in October 2022 for $44 billion.
However, the South African businessman told Rogan that people would “jump all over you” if you tried to share a selfie on X, which is seemingly one of the reasons he prefers his platform.
Multiple studies over the years have shown the negative effects that social media has on people, particularly women and teens.
In 2017, data from the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University showed that just 30 minutes of scrolling on Instagram can negatively affect how women view their bodies.
While Musk’s criticism of the app may be backed by research, the Tesla Motors CEO is also in the midst of a friendly feud with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Instagram’s parent company, meta.
Musk reiterated on Rogan’s podcast that he is willing to fight Zuckerberg, 39, in a cage match “any place, anywhere, under any rules,” but the Facebook CEO allegedly called it off.
